Also, I am finding that I am loving my baby Finch more and more every day. I even kiss his little ultrasound picture on my phone now too. I can't wait to give him kisses and snuggle him in close. Working on the baby registries and watching baby prep videos for Ben has just been making my heart get all warm and fuzzy whenever I think of my little man. Also, now we can see him moving through my tummy (Alien references to come) and Ben can regularly feel his kicks when he touches the bump. It's kind of wonderful really, it's like Finch knows when his daddy is trying to be near him because he almost always kicks as soon as Ben puts his hand on my tummy and leaves it there for a minute. Also, Finch has quite the personality, for those who say that babies aren't capable of emotion or personality before they have been alive outside the womb for a while are sorely mistaken. Everytime Ben and I are at church, at the temple, listening to church music, reading scriptures, or when I am getting a priesthood blessing, he responds with kicks or squirming. Especially songs about the Savior, he always seems to move around a lot when I sing any hymns or primary songs about Him or when we sing them in church. It's very sweet and it makes me want to be a better mama for him where I can always have the spirit with me to also be with my little Finch as well. He also always kicks me when I am sad or concerned or worried. If I watch a movie and I feel stressed, or if I read an article about some extreme pregnancy symptom and condition and start to really get anxious I get this quiet little kick that seems to say, "Don't worry Mama, I'm still here and I'm not going anywhere." I love that, and I love that little bug more and more every day.
Pregnancy wise I am doing really well. I took my glucose tolerance test last week and failed by nine points, and then I had to go in again on Saturday to take it again but for a longer amount of time and passed. (Thank goodness, I was afraid of having a huge 13 pound Finch). I'm not a big fan of the test though. I will never drink fruit punch ever again. They give you a drink that is as sweet as the condensed syrup used to make fountain drinks pre-club soda being added. Nasty and nauseating all at the same time. Then they draw your blood, and I am definitely not afraid of needles or getting my blood drawn but because I have tiny deep veins, they had to use the same arm and site over and over and by the end of the day I could hardly handle the pain and my vein was about to collapse and wouldn't heal as quickly. Not fun. Since finding out I don't have gestational diabetes, I celebrated with some dark chocolate and I am very happy now. Bump wise, I still don't look like I'm that far along. Having a long torso, I have a lot more room for Finch to hide in so I don't poke out very much yet (my belly button has yet to pop out too) so when I wear certain colors or black people don't believe me when I say that I am due in a couple of months until I turn to the side and have a bump. It's fun, but definitely something I've had to pay attention to, so if you see me, yes I am due soon, no I am not mistaken on the due date, and yes, it is still uncomfortable and I still feel very pregnant. Kicks come all of the time and I love it. Best feeling ever having constant little kicks to remind me he is there and doing well. I felt them a lot higher up today so I am beginning to prepare for the possible rib kicks I hear of, yesterday I felt a cramp under my rib so I am wondering if it has already begun. I have a lot of baby karma coming my way since apparently I loved being under my mom's ribs and would kick her incessantly, hopefully Finch is kind, although I would rather deal with the kicks than the alternative ;)
This is me at 26-27ish weeks, it's hard to think I've got 13-14 left...
Which brings me to the reason for the title for this blog entry: Listening to the Spirit. This last weekend was filled with tender mercies and I am so grateful we listened to the promptings felt from the Spirit. It started off with me not being able to work out at the school gym because my maternity pants did not flair at the bottom. Kind of a lame rule, but the girl at the desk was adamant that I could not enter the gym so I walked around outside until I was too chilly and came back inside, feeling twinges of pain and discomfort, but thinking it was because I am terribly out of shape. Then Saturday I began to feel really achy and sore and feeling mild cramping along my stomach and abdomen with back pain. I thought it was most likely growing and stretching pains and some braxton-hicks contractions since I have had a few of those already and they are perfectly normal. Then came yesterday when I felt very uncomfortable and couldn't even go to church because I was getting contractions when I was standing and they would only go away as I rested (not super bad or timeable contractions, but mild yet painful enough to not be mild contractions), I was feeling like I had to pee every minute without any output, and so sore I could hardly move. I stayed in bed, got a blessing and hoped for the best, thinking that if this didn't go away within a few days I'd maybe call a doctor and ask, after all, I had just seen them the other day. Then I woke up this morning and I got the same pain and it felt worse and wasn't going away as I rested. Now I was paying HUGE attention to the symptoms, called Ben at school and asked if we should go in. We both decided yes, and I called the doc to know if we should come in, they were great and said, "If you are worried, then we are worried, please come in and see us". When we got there my blood pressure was up, my weight was down, and I was hurting more than ever. Luckily, our doctor was really great and listened to my symptoms, checked on Finch's heart beat (strong and very loud!) and asked me to do a urine test because he said I had irritability contractions that are a result of something around the uterus causing stress on the uterus triggering contractions. Results came back with a pretty hefty UTI (my first ever, and definitely not a mild one either, yay me...) that was getting pretty bad, and I was prescribed meds and told to go home and keep off my feet. We felt a huge relief, you don't usually think getting an infection is a good thing, but it was music to our terrified ears. Had we not checked on this for a while it could have led to a serious kidney infection making me very sick, but it could also have led to premature labor, harming Finch who would be so small if he were born now. HUGE BLESSINGS TODAY!! It runs in my family that we don't usually show the typical standard symptoms for infections until they are very severe so when we finally feel that something isn't right, it's been wrong for a while and is a big concern. We are all like this and it is not very fun or safe. (My mom had a nearly burst appendix before she even started to show symptoms that could be associated with appendicitis a few years ago. She didn't have a fever, and was mainly tired. Not typical, and we were lucky she got in in time to stop the infection from nearly killing her.) So I don't know how long this has been going on, but if I had waited a few days like I thought I could handle, I may not have gotten the care needed in time to prevent an early labor or major issues for my Finch or myself.
I just keep taking in deep breaths and saying silent prayers of gratitude for my son, and for our health at this time. For it being a simple issue to fix now, and for the blessing of us catching it in time for it to be a simple fix rather than waiting a couple of days to a week and allowing the contractions to go from erratic to consistent to labor. I encourage all of you to avoid being as stubborn as I almost allowed myself to be. Thank goodness the Spirit softened my heart enough to prompt me to not let this go even though I had just seen the doctor the other day, and to make sure I was diligent in finding out what was wrong. I am so grateful I didn't work out last week when the symptoms started because activity was making my pain worse and it could have been worse than it already has been. Thank goodness for priesthood blessings, the prayers of loved ones, and the gift of the Holy Ghost and revelation. I am so grateful, and we are so blessed. I just started taking the antibiotics and will be down for a few days to allow my body to rest, but I feel so much more peace knowing that the Lord has watched over us and knows our needs at all times. Please, don't be silly like me (and by silly I am nicely saying STUPID) and be too nervous to talk to someone or tune in to the spirit when something doesn't feel right. Looking back, I have felt like something has been wrong for a week and a half with lots of worries and in hindsight I now know why. Never be too afraid to act on a prompting and trust that the Lord will always bless you with the right people and the right circumstances to accomplish what He asks you to do. Every person we encountered was an earth angel today and Ben and I are so grateful.
I will probably rub my tummy and have Ben give it a kiss for Finch before bed and try to cradle him a little closer (well as physically closer as is possible at this point) as I say prayers of thanks for a Heavenly Father who knows and loves us so much tonight, thanking him for my health and for the health of my sweet baby boy. I couldn't ask for more, thank goodness the Lord is so wise because I know I am far from wise a lot of the time.
May God bless, and may you have a great day. Cheers! *drinks cranberry juice*
Love, Liz, Ben, Zola, and Baby Finch :)
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